- 22 -
meant?
JAMES GIBBS: Ididn’t read it as I didn’t ask
him. No.
RESPONDENT’S COUNSEL: You didn’t even read the
part under your signature that says, Signature of
Petitioner or Counsel?
JAMES GIBBS: I’m sorry. I didn’t.
* * * * * * *
RESPONDENT’S COUNSEL: The fact is you didn’t pay
close attention to your tax matters, did you, sir?
JAMES GIBBS: No, I relied on Steve Jaffe.
In sum, James and John abdicated their responsibility as
petitioner’s sole corporate officers and shareholders for making
any tax-related decisions for petitioner and instead placed that
responsibility squarely on Jaffe. The message from James and
John was clear: “We are not interested in tax matters.” The
mandate to Jaffe was equally clear: “You handle those matters for
us.”
Petitioner argues that neither James nor John was
knowledgeable about tax matters and that neither would have
understood what they were signing even if they had bothered to
read the particular document that was presented for their
signature. Petitioner apparently thinks that corporate officers
have no duty to read any document before signing it, nor any duty
to educate themselves about matters of consequence to the
corporation, nor even any duty to ask fundamental questions about
Page: Previous 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011